This invention relates to cooling towers and more specifically to a cylindrical-shaped cooling tower having a radial air flow through both a fill media as well as a fluid droplet eliminator means adjacent and supported in concentric relationship thereto by means of a novel frame structure.
The basic concept of drawing outside air through fill media continuously saturated within a fluid to be cooled, usually water, and then through a device for eliminating water droplets in cooling tower design is well known. The fluid to be cooled contains heat usually absorbed during condensing or other machine cooling operations and is pumped to and distributed over the fill media. The air is moved through the fill media by large fans usually of the squirrel-cage type. The vast majority of these prior art towers for cooling such fluid employ large rectangular-shaped sections of fill media adjacent to a device for removing droplets of fluid from the air which is drawn through both the media and the device by the fans, neither of which can be easily removed for cleaning or replacement.
Another major drawback is the large amount of space cooling towers of the prior art require for the cooling capacity capable of being obtained from them. This usually results from the aforementioned large rectangular shaped fill media area and fluid droplet eliminator devices as well as the housing and blower construction required to insure that sufficient air is drawn through the fill media and eliminator device to effect desired cooling of the fluid.
To overcome the drawbacks of the cooling towers of the prior art and create one that is a more compact and efficient one having high cooling capacity, applicant devised a unique frame structure secured to two concentric base rings which provides a plurality of first and second radially extending open-sided chambers which permits easy removal of both the fill media and droplet eliminator. In each first radially extending chamber is located a section of fill media and adjacent thereto, in the second chamber, is located a section of a device for eliminating any droplets of water entrained in the air being drawn through the fill media as the fluid to be cooled is caused to fall through it by gravity. The eliminator device sections form, by their inside surfaces, an unobstructed cylindrical-shaped open area in which a motor driven fan is mounted. The fan draws outside air through louvered panels surrounding the circular-shaped outer surface of the fill media sections through the fill media and the fluid to be cooled filtering therethrough, through the fluid eliminator device sections where any entrained water droplets are removed therefrom and into the open area from which it is then exhausted out the top of the tower. A pan is provided beneath both the frame structure and the louvered panels to receive the cooled fluid for return either to the source or to be recirculated through the fill media.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a compact, highly efficient fluid cooling tower.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel frame structure which enables the fill media and fluid eliminator device to be arranged in concentric circles to enable the radial flow of air therethrough and permit their easy removal for cleaning or replacement.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a cooling tower which is of simple design, relatively inexpensive to make and yet, despite its compactness, exhibits a high cooling capacity.
These and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from references to the following specification including the claims and drawings, all of which disclose a non-limiting embodiment of the invention .